Heart of Many Colors
by ShiTiger
Summary: Mystery Skulls Ghost. Misc set of fics for this music video. (Arthur x Lewis and/or Arthur x Lewis x Vivi) Ch 1: Marks that Bind (soulmate au). Ch 2: Child at Heart (de-aged Arthur).
1. Marks that Bind

_Summary of ch 1: Set after the music video. Arthur has been hiding a little secret under his armband that will change the group's relationship forever._

* * *

Arthur must have lost his wristband when they fell through the trapdoor. He didn't even realize it was missing until Lewis' magenta-haired skeleton was looming over him. The other man's glowing eyes were filled with hatred and malice, emotions that Arthur had never seen on his friend's normally cheery face.

The mechanic knew he deserved to die, but he couldn't help throwing up his hands to ward off the specter. With his eyes screwed shut, and his heartbeat pounding loudly in his ears, Arthur didn't see the ghost stop short, his pink gaze focused intently on the purple letters written elegantly across the blonde's uncovered wrist.

**Lewis**

The boy's eyes popped open as a familiar body pulled him into a tight embrace. Lewis' skin was as cold as death, but Arthur could only cling back as tears soaked into the other man's purple vest.

"I'm sorry, Arthur. I am so sorry. You must have been hurting so much. Is that why you killed me?"

Arthur pulled back from his friend's hug, turning his face up to stare at Lewis in shock. "What?! How can you even think that?"

The ghost had decency to look repentant at his choice of words. "Well, I was with Vivi, and we did have each other's soulmarks…"

"Exactly!" the mechanic yelled. "You were my friends. I would never try to ruin your relationship!"

"Arthur…"

"We were both late in getting our soulmarks. I knew you'd eventually get one. There's no way a guy as great as you wouldn't." Arthur felt his face heating up, and tried to quickly get his words out. "My soulmark came so late that I thought I'd never get one. I started to wonder if I was mean to be alone forever, but it appeared one day, and it was your name. I was just- just so happy that I rushed right over to your house to show you. But Vivi was already there…"

Lewis nodded, watching his blonde friend curl in on himself at the memory. He remembered that day well. It was the day he woke with Vivi's name on his wrist, and she dropped by only 20 minutes later with a matching soulmark. They were so excited that they rushed to tell Arthur the moment he walked in the door. Their younger friend had seemed happy for them, but was sorry to say he couldn't stay long due to an appointment.

"You were so happy together that I knew I could never, WOULD NEVER, come between you." Arthur pulled back even more, staring at the purple tattoo on his wrist. "So I hid it, and just pretended it didn't exist. Pretended that I was just one of those people born without a soulmate."

Lewis wanted to take the other boy into his arms again, but Arthur had already turned away from him. There was one thing still prickling at his mind though…

"Arthur, what happened in the cave?"

"Something possessed my other arm, and pushed you off the ledge. It kept whispering all these horrible things in my head." The shorter man began to tremble at the memory. "Mystery had to bite off my arm to keep it from spreading. Hence the prosthetic," Arthur commented, stretching it out for Lewis to examine.

The specter reached out a gloved hand, bypassing the metal arm to take hold of Arthur's natural one. Turning the blonde's hand over, he traced the double scars above the soulmark. "And…" Lewis lowered his voice to a soft whisper, "what about these?"

Arthur cringed, his gaze lowering to avoid having to look his friend in the eye. "I… when I woke up in the hospital, they told me you were dead, Lewis, and my arm was gone, and Vivi was in shock and couldn't remember what happened after she saw you fall from the ledge. I just… couldn't do it anymore. I was always messing things up. If you knew about my soulmark, it would have messed up our friendship. If I hadn't been so weak, that spirit or demon or whatever it was, wouldn't have been able to possess me, and you'd still be alive." Tears began to trickle down the blonde's cheeks, but he continued, "I even managed to mess up my own suicide. I'm so pathetic."

Lewis let out a low, mournful moan as he pulled the other man back into his embrace. How could he have been so blind? Arthur was his best friend, and he'd thought such horrible things about him. After he'd died, all he could think of was revenge. He'd assumed Arthur must have been in love with Vivi, and had murdered Lewis to take his place. In his arms, the young man's throat hitched as he continued to sob. At that moment, Lewis decided he would find a way to make things right. Arthur and Vivi deserved to be happy, and he'd do anything in his power to fix this mess.

**"****STOP!" **

Both boys turned their heads to see a familiar bluenette in the now-open doorway, panting from running all the way across the mansion. Mystery was hot on her heels, but a quick glance at the men had him smiling fondly.

"It's not Arthur's fault, he was possessed! He never meant to hurt you, Lewis," the girl rushed to explain.

"It's okay, Vivi. Lewis is a good ghost." Arthur used his real hand to attempt to wipe the tears off his cheeks, but was unable to move much due to the specter's arms still holding him close.

"Arthur… your soulmark is showing," Vivi whispered, once she was close enough to see it clearly.

The mechanic looked away in embarrassment. She'd probably be upset to know he had Lewis' name on his wrist. Lewis was her soulmate, after all.

"Vivi, Arthur's soulmate is…" the ghost began to say, only to be cut off by his lover.

"You," the girl admitted, looking apologetic. Both men stared at her in shock, before exchanging a quick glance with each other. Then their eyes were on her again.

"I… saw it one night. About a month before the cave incident. I went into Arthur's room to make sure he was actually going to bed, rather than working on his projects all night. He was asleep at his desk, but he'd taken off his wristbands, and I ended up seeing it." The bluenette fiddled nervously with the hem of her skirt, before continuing, "I should have said something… or at least tried to talk to Arthur, but I didn't. I knew that he'd do something drastic, like leave us, if he found out that someone knew. And… I was being selfish. I didn't want to lose either of you."

The girl stepped forward, asking Lewis' permission with her eyes. He slowly released his grip on Arthur, only to watch Vivi pull the mechanic into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry, Arthur. I should have talked to you. You always keep so much inside, trying to keep us happy. I've been a horrible friend."

"No-no. You've been a great friend, Vivi. I'm the one who's sorry." Arthur glanced at his wrist over her shoulder. "I didn't mean for this weird love triangle thing to happen."

"I know."

Lewis wrapped his arms around his lover and his best friend. They stayed like that for the rest of the night: talking softly, and comforting each other as best they could. When the humans finally fell asleep in his arms, the ghost was reluctant to release them. The sun's rays may not reach that deep into the mansion, but he rested better in his coffin. Shaking his skull head, the skeleton carefully lifted his friends and settled them, one at a time, onto opposite ends of the plush couch he conjured into existence. Retreating to his resting place, the ghost slowly closed the coffin lid, and hoped that the pair would still be there when he awoke.

* * *

A scream echoed through the mansion, jolting Arthur from his sleep, and causing Lewis to burst out of his coffin in a panic. Unable to find the source of her distress, the ghost focused on his girlfriend with a confused glance. Her eyes were positively sparkling with excitement as she stared at her wrist.

Lewis slipped closer to her, casting a quick glance at Arthur to make sure he was safe. The blonde looked as confused as he felt.

"Look, Lewis! Look!" Vivi thrust out her wrist toward him.

The specter could feel his magenta hair surging to life in spikes, before settling into its normal style. Written delicately across the girl's wrist, just below his own name, was another name.

_**Arthur**_

Twin stares of shock and excitement turned on the mechanic, causing him to flinch back in alarm.

"Check your wrist, Arthur," Vivi urged, getting to her feet. She nearly jumped up and down with joy as the blonde's jaw dropped at the sight of his own wrist.

"I don't… I don't understand. It's not possible," Arthur whispered, metal fingers tracing the second name below the first.

_**Vivi**_

"It seems the universe is of the opinion that you should all be together," Mystery piped up. He was lounging at Arthur's feet, and smirking at the magenta-haired ghost knowingly.

"My turn then." Lewis scratched his skull nervously, then took hold of his floating locket heart. The anchor was a brilliant mixture of gold and blue swirls. Popping open the locket, the specter knew that if he'd been alive, he'd have been crying. To the right was a picture of the gang, Mystery included, smiling back at him. On the left, delicately engraved into the metal, were the names of his best friends.

* * *

_Note: OMG! Checking out the profiles and realizing something: If Lewis died at 21, and Arthur is currently 22, and Vivi is 24… then Arthur was the youngest of the group or the same age as Lewis. Personally, I love the idea of Arthur as the youngest. So cute!_


	2. Child at Heart

**_Ch 2: Child at Heart_ **

* * *

The moment the child saw him, he began to scream. The specter's magenta eyes focused on the young blonde, before darting up to meet Vivi's. The girl sighed and pulled the little boy into her arms, gently patting his back.

"I want… I want…" the child sobbed, tears dripping down his cheeks. Burying his face into Vivi's shoulder, the boy began to plead, "I want Lewis! Where's Lewis!"

The bluenette gave her ghostly boyfriend a hard glare, even as she rubbed circles on Arthur's trembling back. "It's okay, sweetie. Lewis is coming."

With a sigh, the specter drifted into the other room, and allowed his human form to flow over his dead bones. Adjusting his purple tie, Lewis tried to push down the rage he normally had toward the other man. Arthur had killed him, but he was just a child right now. At least until Vivi figured out a counter-curse. No hurting the child… even if it WAS Arthur.

Stepping back into the room, Lewis attempted to smile invitingly, but he couldn't quite get his arms to move from his sides. "Hey… ahem. Hello, Arthur."

The child, who was now standing next to Vivi, looked up quickly at the sound of his voice. A broad grin spread across his face as he raced across the room, and threw both arms around the purple-haired man's legs. "Lewis! Lewis! Lewis!"

Lewis didn't quite know what to do with his hands, and finally settled for patting the boy awkwardly on the back with one of them. This wasn't just any child, it was Arthur. The man who murdered him!

"That's so sweet. Why don't you play with him in the living-room while Mystery and I make dinner," Vivi suggested, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

Lewis soon found himself sitting on the couch with Arthur pressed against his side. The little boy was giggling at the rerun of Scooby Doo on the television, but every once in a while he'd glance around as if looking for something.

"There was a ghost here -" Arthur suddenly announced, his brown eyes focused on the TV. Lewis glanced down, waiting for him to continue. "You must have scared him away. You're always making the scary things go away, and that's why you're my best friend."

Small fingers entwined with his; the child seemly oblivious to the pretend human's ice-cold skin. Lewis was tempted to pull out his anchor and check to make sure it was working properly. For some strange reason, the boy's unquestioning trust made it ache in an odd way.

* * *

After dinner, in which more food seemed to end up on the child's face then in his mouth, the group moved back to the living room for a movie. Watching Arthur play happily with Mystery on the floor, Lewis turned to study his girlfriend as she took in the sight. It made him happy to see her happy. And now, for whatever reason, the sight of Arthur goofing around without a trace of fear was giving him a pleasant glow inside.

"So, Arthur," the bluenette commented as the credits began to roll. "You love Lewis very much, don't you?" The ghost gave her a hard look, but turned his attention back to the child as the boy surged to his feet.

"Uh huh! Lewis is my bested-est best friend, and I'm gonna be his wife someday!" The boy was smiling ear to ear, the gap in his front teeth only furthering his expression of innocence.

Lewis knew he'd lost control of his projection the moment the boy's excited eyes widened in fear. A quick flash back to his human form did nothing but distress the child further. With a sob, the little boy ran out of the room, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Lewis," Vivi hissed, turning her angry gaze on the ghost.

"I…"

"Never mind. I've got to go comfort Arthur," the bluenette hissed, stalking from the room with Mystery hot on her heels. The spectacled dog stopped in the doorway, turning back to fix his attention on the magenta-haired spirit sitting on the sofa.

"I've tried to encourage you kids to deal with your team issues, but perhaps I was wrong about things working themselves out." Mystery glanced up the stairs where a single bedroom light was shining brightly, like a torch. "You should really think long and hard about your relationship with Arthur. This team isn't going to work out if you're at each others' throats."

"He killed me," Lewis attempted to argue, but his heart just wasn't into it. In fact, his locket anchor continued to pulse painfully against his ribs. It seemed to do that every time Arthur cried… even back when he was an adult.

"You forget, I was there. If you can't trust his word, or Vivi's, then at least try to consider my point of a view. A demonic spirit was in the cave, it did possess Arthur's arm, and it caused him to push you from the ledge. I wasn't fast enough to save you, but I was able to bite off the appendage before the creature could completely possess Arthur. You could have all died that night if I hadn't been there," Mystery stated, though not in a superior tone. He cared for them all, even if he rarely spoke aloud.

Lewis looked away as the dog padded out of the room and up the stairs, clearly on his way to join Vivi in her attempts at calming young Arthur down. He'd certainly given the specter a lot to think about.

* * *

Lewis didn't realize he'd drifted into a meditative state until he felt little hands pulling on his pant legs. The sky was dark outside the curtained window, and the clock on the wall ticked 5 minutes past two a.m. Arthur continued to pull himself up onto the sofa, pointedly avoiding looking up at the skeleton.

Lewis didn't say a word, although he had a strange urge to hold his breath until the boy finally spoke.

"I'm scared of ghosts," Arthur began, his small hands trembling in his lap.

"I know," the specter acknowledged, trying to make his voice as light as possible. He didn't dare throw on his human guise for fear that the sudden change might scare the child.

"I'm scared of a lot of things, but you're Lewis, and Lewis is the safest-ed person I know, so you can't be scary," Arthur seemed to decide, turning his orange eyes up to stare at the skeleton.

"Is that so?" Lewis felt his anchor give a pulse of contentment as the child stared at him without fear.

"Uh huh. And the pretty blue lady said I could be your wife when I grew up," the boy announced, puckering out his cheeks as if daring the ghost to refuse.

_~So cute! Wait, did I really just think that?~ _

"Did she?" Lewis managed to answer, already planning out his future conversation with her in his mind.

"Yep. As long as I'm her wife, too," Arthur smiled, throwing his arms around the specter's thin waist. A bony arm embraced the boy in return, Lewis' eye sockets crinkling with happiness. It wasn't long before the boy was fast asleep, his head nestled in the ghost's lap.

* * *

"So, how do we get him back to normal?" Lewis kept his voice low to avoid waking the child now sprawled on top of him.

Vivi studied the pair on the couch, before smirking at her magenta-haired boyfriend. "True love's kiss wouldn't hurt."

"… he's a child, V."

"It doesn't have to be on the lips."

Lewis allowed his human projection to sweep over his skeletal body. I hope this works, he thought, even as he pressed cold lips to the boy's soft cheek.

"Awww… I really thought that would work," Vivi commented. With a sigh, she leaned over the couch and pressed her own kiss to the spot Lewis' lips had just left. Twirling a strand of blue hair around her finger, the girl whispered, "I'll search through my spell books and see if there's another way to break the curse," before leaving the pair to snuggle on the couch.

Eyeing the boy who was still sound asleep, and drooling slightly onto his shirt, Lewis leaned back and relaxed his powers, letting the human guise slip away. Even if Arthur did wake up, he wouldn't be too startled to see the specter in his natural state.

As his glowing violet eyes dimmed, the ghost failed to notice the _**blue and purple lip-print**_ shimmering on the little boy's cheek.

* * *

A movement against his chest drew Lewis' attention back to the real world. Tilting his bony skull forward, the spirit froze when he came nose to nose with a sleepy ADULT Arthur. His friend had boosted himself up on his single arm, and was now leaning in close to the specter's rather startled face.

_~Arthur looks good when he's all tired and confused. Definitely kissable.~ _

Lewis watched as Arthur fully woke up, his orange eyes widening in fear. The mechanic's sudden attempt to push himself away only tipped him off-balance. The specter was quick to steady him with his own gloved hands, marveling at how light the other boy was.

Arthur's eyes crunched shut, clearly waiting for Lewis to yell at him or push him off. Leaning in close, the ghost felt a surge of sympathy, along with an undercurrent of guilt, toward the young man. "Breathe, Arthur," Lewis commanded. The living boy took an involuntary breath, his eyes still closed tightly.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'll get off you now." Arthur tried to push against the solid specter beneath him, but Lewis' arm was still glued to his hip.

"Don't," the magenta-haired ghost stated. The mechanic froze in fear. Lewis felt his eye sockets softening at the sight. Poor Arthur. "Please, stay. There is something I need to speak with you about."

"And I need to be in your lap for this conversation?" the blonde asked, cringing at his own words.

Lewis laughed at the boy's spunk, before commenting, "No, but I'm quite comfortable with you there."

Arthur's cheeks turned a rosy red, prompting the specter to slip on his human guise. Without another thought, Lewis pressed his chilled lips to the other man's trembling ones. Arthur nearly jerked away, but the ghost held him fast, one gloved hand reaching around to rub comforting circles on the human's t-shirt clad back.

When he finally pulled back, Lewis noticed that his friend – and hopefully future lover – was staring at him with a dazed expression. Luckily, the specter was saved from explaining when a familiar spectacled girl trotted through the door with a spellbook in hand, and Mystery at her heels.

"I found a way to – oh, Arthur's back to normal. I guess true love's kiss did work," Vivi announced, throwing her arms around Arthur while he continued to perch in Lewis' lap.

"True love's kiss? Did something happen? I remember that sorceress throwing a spell at me, and a bright flash of green light -" The mechanic gazed between his two… friends, clearly confused.

"You were turned into a child, Arthur. I'm not surprised you don't remember. But it looks like Lewis' kiss worked, and now the spell is broken!"

"Wait, what? What kiss?" the blond demanded, though he looked more panicked than upset by the news.

"You kissed him, too, Vivi," Lewis reminded her, his gloved hands returning to their comfortable perch on Arthur's hips.

"Maybe it took both our kisses to break the spell. Arthur is going to be our wife, after all." The girl smiled brightly, and whipped out her cell phone.

"Wait – WIFE?! But I'm… and you're both… and…"

"Aw, you were so cute as a kid, Arthur. I have soooo many pictures!"

* * *

_Note: And that's the end. I've got a much longer Mystery Skulls fic in the works, but this may be my last short MS story for a while. So many fic ideas, so little time! Love all the great artwork I've been seeing on Tumblr. It's been quite inspirational!_


End file.
